Carpet or rug made of sponge material



April 21, 1936. .1. LANG 2,038,368

CARPET OR RUG MADE OF SPONGE MATERIAL Filed Jan. 22, 1934 f ,if v

ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 21, 1936 2,038,368

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARPET OR RUG MADE OF SPONGE MATERIAL John Lang, Bronx, N. Y.

Application January 22, 1934, Serial No. 707,648 s claims. (c1. 154-49) This invention relates to new and useful im- Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of Fig. 6 as provements in rugs or carpets. though looking in the direction of the line 1-1 The invention has for. an object the construcbut illustrating the rug bent along the longitudition of a rug or carpet made particularly of nal center thereof.

5 spongy material and characterized by the provi- Fig. 8 is a plan View of the flexible base sheet 5 sion of a flexible sheet forming the bottom thereper se of the rug shown in Figs. 6 and 7. of and a plurality of elements attached upon the Fig. 9 is a perspective rear View of the rug, flexible sheet forming the top of the rug or showing a further development of the invention. carpet. Fig. 10 is a perspective View of the connecting 10 Still further the invention proposes an armembers used in Fig. 9. 10 rangement whereby the plurality of elements are Fig. l1 is a similar view to Fig. 9, but showing arranged in transverse, longitudinal or oblique a modified arrangement. lines and the said elements are arranged adja- The rug according to this invention comprises cent to each other. a flexible sheet of material I0 forming the bot- Still further the invention proposes the contOIn 0f the 'rllg and a plurality 0f elements il atl5 struction of an article as mentioned in which tached on the flexible sheet forming the top of the flexible base sheet is of any size or shape, and the rug. The sheet of material Il] preferably the plurality of elements attached thereon of should be made of rubber though other types of various sizes and designs. liexible sheets may be used with fairly good Furthermore as another object of this invenresults. The elements Il preferably should be 20 tion it is proposed to provide an arrangement made of spongy material, for example, sponge whereby the plurality ofY elements are detachrubber and be constructed of sufficient thickness ably arranged upon the flexible sheet. so as to give goed body t0 the rllg- These Spenge Another one of the objects of this inventionV rubber elements H are arranged adjacent each 2 5 is the arrangement of cooperative means releasother in longitudinal, transverse 0r Oblique lines. 25 ably holding the elements upon the sheet in such In Fig. 1 the elements l are ShOWn transversely a fashionthat the elements can only be removed arranged and having adjacent faces contacting or engaged in place when the flexible Sheet is With each Other. The adjacent faces 0f the elebent in a certain manner. ments ll are shown flat but other constructions l Still further the invention proposes the conmay be used as long as they interengage or en- 30 struction of an article as mentioned which is gage each Other. simple and durable and which may be manufac- In Figs.V 3 and 4 a modified arrangement of tured and sold at a reasonable cost. the device has been disclosed wherein the ele-V For further comprehension of the invention, ments Il are arranged at an inclination t0 the and of the objects and advantages thereof, reflcngitlldinal length 0f tlle rug- In Other respects 35 erence will be had to the following description thiS fOrrn 0f the inVentiOn iS Similar t0 the preand accompanying drawing, and to the apferred form and similar parts may be recognized pended claims in which the various novel feaby Cerreslicnding reference numerals.

tures are more particularly set forth. In Fig. 5 another embodiment of the invention In the accompanying drawing forming a matehas been disclosed wherein the rug comprises a 40 rial part of this disclosure: flexible sheet of material lll forming the base of Fig. l -is a plan View of a rug constructed acthe rug and a plurality 0f elements Ilat attached cording to this invention. upon the flexible sheet forming the top of the Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view'taken rug These elements ||a are in the form of `on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. small blocks arranged with adjacent faces con- 45 Fig. 3 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 but showtacting with each other. As illustrated the blocks ing a rug of a different design constructed acil are 0f cubic Shape Coming to a different invention, In Figs. 6-8 inclusive another embodiment of Fig, 4 is an edge elevational View of Fig, 3, the invention has been disclosed, and particularly Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan View of another shows a flexible sheet of material I0 of a shape 50 rug constructed according to another embodihaving a number 0f Straight Sides at an inclinament of this invention. f tion to each other. A plurality of elements Hb, Fig. 6 is a plan view of still another rug con- Ilc and Hd are attached upon the flexible sheet structed according to a modification of this informing the top of the rug. These elements have 55, vention, adjacent contacting faces. Furthermore the elements are so arranged that they meet with one of their ends upon the longitudinal center line I3. The rug is also provided with a transverse center line I4 and all of the elements at the center terminate at this line. The arrangement is such that the rug may be folded along these center lines, in that the flexible base I may readily bend and the elements upon the flexible base separate along these lines.

A novel construction is used for the attaching of the elements upon the flexible sheet of material in a manner so that they may readily be removed, and furthermore when in place to be maintained against possible accidental removing. More particularly beneath each of the elements there is situated a similarly shaped plate I5b, I5c and I5d. These plates are cemented or in any other manner attached upon the upper surface of the ilexible sheet Ill so as to allow bending of the sheet as before described.

Each of the plates is provided with a headed pin I6. These pins IE5 are adapted to engage into bayonet openings I'I in plates I8 cemented or in any other manner attached upon the bottom sides of the elements IIb, IIC and IId. The bayonet slots I1 are arranged so that the large openings thereof are remote from the longitudinal central line I3. This arrangement prevents any of the elements from being accidentally removed from the flexible material Ib in that they must move towards each other and since they are in intimate contact such motion is impossible.

To remove the elements IIb, and IIc and IId it is necessary that the flexible sheet I0 be first bent along the longitudinal line I3 into the position shown in Fig. 7, that is, in which one half of the flexible sheet is bent along the lines I3 through an angle of 90. With the flexible sheet in this condition the elements IIb, IIc and IId may be moved over the bend of the sheet I0 to positions in which the large portions of the bayonet slots may pass over the heads of the headed elements IS.

A feature of a rug or carpet constructed according to this invention is that it is possible to better wash and clean it since the upper surface of the rug is formed from the elements secured upon the flexible sheet. It is possible to bend the flexible sheet so that any individual element is free at the sides. Thus the sides and the top of the element are exposed so that the element can readily be saturated with chemically treated water to wash it. Carpets or rugs may be made of one piece of sponge rubber and Without; a bottom sheet. But in order to provide a smooth bottom surface it may be coated with a layer of rubber. The rug constructed according to this invention has the feature that the portions thereof are better exposed to' be Washed. For this reason it may be better washed with effort equal to that of other types of rugs.

A still further feature of constructing the rug as described in this invention is that it is better adapted to be rolled or folded. The old types of rug of sponge rubber could be rolled or folded only as permitted by the flexibility of the entire mass of the rug. A rug constructed as described in this specification can be rolled or folded as permitted by the flexibility of the base sheet thereof since the elements mounted thereon are separate elements they give no resistance to bending or folding. Therefore when the base element or flexible sheet is bent or folded the rug itself is bent or folded. It is therefore possible to roll or fold the rug into a smaller compass when constructed according to this invention.

A still further feature of the invention is the removability of the elements forming the top of the rug. The advantage of a construction of this type is that should any element or group of elements bepermanently ruined by the spilling of injurious liquids or other substances thereon, the particular elements may be removed and replaced. The particular construction for holding the elements upon the flexible sheet is of extreme advantage in that the elements cannot be displaced when the rug is laid flat upon the floor, but at the same time allow the elements to be easily and quickly removed merely by bending the flexible material into a certain position so as not to obstruct certain motion of the elements which are necessary for their removal.

In Fig. 9 the sheet material IIJ is formed withv grooves 20, terminating in enlarged circular shapes 2|. These grooves are adapted to receive connecting plugs or links 22 preferably made of flexible material such as rubber, leather, cord,I etc., for joining the rug sections' 23 together.

In Fig. 11 another forming means 22 is indicated in the form of a U-shape metallic link which engage in holes 24 extending from edges 25 of the flexible sheet materials I0 in the vicinity of the adjacent edges 26 of rug sections 23.

The forms shown in Figs. 9 and 11 permit the interlinking of a plurality of rug sections of the type heretofore described and illustrated so as to form a comparatively large size carpet of anyv desired shape.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right. is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as dened in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a rug or carpet, a plurality of flexible sheets of material in edge engagement with each other forming the bottom of the rug or carpet, and a plurality of elements attached on the flexible sheets forming the top thereof, said elements having adjacent faces in contact with each other, and connecting plugs extending through grooves in adjacent edges of said flexible sheets and having enlarged ends for xedly joining the sheets together.

2. In a rug or carpet, a plurality of flexible sheets of material in edge engagement with each other forming the bottom of the rug or carpet, and a plurality 'of elements attached on the flexible sheets forming the top thereof, said elements having adjacent faces in contact with each other, and flexible connecting strips extending through grooves in adjacent edges of said flexible sheets and having enlarged ends for xedly joining the sheets together.

3. In a rug or carpet, a flexible sheet of rubber backing material and a plurality of sponge rubber blocks attached to the upper surface of said rubber sheet, the adjacent faces of said blocks. contacting each other and free, with the border of the rug similarly made of separate sponge rubber blocks whereby said rug is flexible throughout and the Vertical faces of said blocks will return to normal position upon being displaced laterally.

JOHN LANG. 

